Chipotle Mistake

So the wife found a recipe in Real Simple magazine she thought sounded good. ****y chicken and hominy soup. Sounded good to me too so I made it. I do the cooking and tend to embellish on recipes to improve them.

So this recipe called for a rotisserie chicken, a can of hominy, couple stalks of celery, an onion, chicken broth and the chipotle peppers in adobo. I had never worked with chipotle peppers before so we got a small 4 oz can. I put it all together and when I opened up the peppers and dumped them in the pot... they were whole and needed to be chopped... so I fished them all back out and chopped them up... covered and simmered for 45 minutes.

That soup was so freaking hot! We used almost an entire small tub of sour cream trying to cut the heat! I finished a bowl and the top of my head was sweating and my lips were burning. The wife got through half a bowl and I finally told her not to be a hero, she had nothing to prove. She takes the bowls to the kitchen... I cook, she cleans. Awesome arrangement... and comes back and says... how much chipotle did you put in there? The whole can I said. She says... the recipe says 1 TABLESPOON of chipotle peppers. We both paid for that mistake with the soup going in, and the soup coming out. I'll pay closer attention the recipe next time.

So the wife found a recipe in Real Simple magazine she thought sounded good. ****y chicken and hominy soup. Sounded good to me too so I made it. I do the cooking and tend to embellish on recipes to improve them.

So this recipe called for a rotisserie chicken, a can of hominy, couple stalks of celery, an onion, chicken broth and the chipotle peppers in adobo. I had never worked with chipotle peppers before so we got a small 4 oz can. I put it all together and when I opened up the peppers and dumped them in the pot... they were whole and needed to be chopped... so I fished them all back out and chopped them up... covered and simmered for 45 minutes.

That soup was so freaking hot! We used almost an entire small tub of sour cream trying to cut the heat! I finished a bowl and the top of my head was sweating and my lips were burning. The wife got through half a bowl and I finally told her not to be a hero, she had nothing to prove. She takes the bowls to the kitchen... I cook, she cleans. Awesome arrangement... and comes back and says... how much chipotle did you put in there? The whole can I said. She says... the recipe says 1 TABLESPOON of chipotle peppers. We both paid for that mistake with the soup going in, and the soup coming out. I'll pay closer attention the recipe next time.

I watched The Cooking Channel last weekend where this guy wraps a pork shoulder in banana leaves and cooks it in a Crock Pot. I had the recipe in my head and went to the Mexican market and asked if they had ancho paste. The Senora asks, "Do you mean this?" - pointing to Achiote Paste. Well, I thought maybe I heard it wrong. I've cooked many times with ancho chiles, but never had purchased an ancho paste.

I got home and started prepping the pork, with salt, pepper, lime juice, onion, and chicken broth, and smeared on the achiote paste.

But later I find the recipe online, and turns out I did hear it correctly - it was ancho paste - not achiote paste!!!

It turned out ok with the achiote paste but no doubt in my mind it would be much better with ancho paste. I can soak, blenderize, and strain anchos to make my own paste if i can't find it at a store.

I watched The Cooking Channel last weekend where this guy wraps a pork shoulder in banana leaves and cooks it in a Crock Pot. I had the recipe in my head and went to the Mexican market and asked if they had ancho paste. The Senora asks, "Do you mean this?" - pointing to Achiote Paste. Well, I thought maybe I heard it wrong. I've cooked many times with ancho chiles, but never had purchased an ancho paste.

I got home and started prepping the pork, with salt, pepper, lime juice, onion, and chicken broth, and smeared on the achiote paste.

But later I find the recipe online, and turns out I did hear it correctly - it was ancho paste - not achiote paste!!!

It turned out ok with the achiote paste but no doubt in my mind it would be much better with ancho paste. I can soak, blenderize, and strain anchos to make my own paste if i can't find it at a store.

There is a mild flavor - like it was wrapped in a giant bay leaf. But also, the banana leaf is liquid proof - so if wrapped well, it will seal in the moisture.

The most memorable dish I've had w/ banana leaves was at a Thai restaurant - halibut baked in banana leaves, with lemongrass, ginger,dried red chiles, lime juice, cabbage, and soy sauce. It was orgasmicfantastic.

It also common with tamales in certain regions of Mexico, but I prefer the corn husks.